The movie is about the power of love, family and community in the face of hardship. It is also about the magic that can happen when someone who cannot speak with words finds people who can listen with their hearts. The musical drama feature film, directed by nine-time Grammy nominee Sia, was only going to release as a cinema premiere on Dstv Box Office on Friday 12 February 2021. However, due to popular demand, the film will now also release at Ster-Kinekor cinemas nationwide on the same day.

The story begins with a young girl on the autism spectrum who experiences the world through music. Sharing an apartment with her grandmother Millie (Mary Kay Place), Music (Maddie Ziegler) lives in a community brimming with love and support. When her grandmother dies, Music’s safe and structured world is turned upside down and she is left in the care of her estranged half-sister Zu (Kate Hudson).

As a recovering addict on parole, Zu is barely coping with her own issues when she finds herself thrust into the role of Music’s guardian and caregiver. Broke and barely sober, Zu is forced to accept that Music’s neighbours Ebo (Leslie Odom Jnr) and George (Héctor Elizondo) have a lot to teach her about how to care for her sister and the strength that can be found in a loving community.

“Deeply felt, MUSIC is a bold and compelling reinvention of the screen musical and a moving story of how individuals struggle and then come together and create community” said Benjamin Cowley, CEO Gravel Road Distribution Group. “The film is uplifting, light and soulful at the same time” he added.

You can check that out here, and for Apple Music’s Black Music Month content, see here. 

The music industry is constantly releasing new albums at a ridiculous rate, making it easy to miss a few gems in a sea of new music. Spotify is rolling out another curated playlist that might help with some of those new release blues, introducing the world to a relaunch of its service Radar today.

Radar seems to be a companion playlist to the already-existing New Music Friday. Whereas New Music Friday is meant to introduce you to new artists you may have never heard of,  Radar is a playlist that will populate with new songs from artists you listen to the most.

Radar doesn’t just include new music from your most followed artists, as Spotify will also use your listening habits to find a handful of tracks you may not have heard before and drop them into the mix. Spotify says that Radar will evolve as you listen more, presumably becoming better at predicting which artists you’re most interested in. You’ll also be able to share your version of Release Radar with friends or download it for offline listening.

If it hasn’t already appeared yet, Radar should soon be available in the “New Releases for You” section of the “Discover” menu when you access Spotify on desktop or mobile. Radar is just the latest curated playlist Spotify is offering up to users, and between it and New Music Friday, it sounds like the company is trying to make sure its users have enough new music as they head off into the weekend – something we’re sure at least a few of the service’s more than 100 million active listeners will like.

Earlier on this week it tried to give itself an edge by rolling out a feature it’s unique situated to deliver. If you’re a YouTube Music subscriber, you’ll now be able to switch between audio-only tracks and music videos whenever you wish.

Simply put, this means that if you’re listening to a track and you decide you’d like to watch the music video for that song, you don’t need to switch apps to do so. Obviously, this feature doesn’t work with every single song on the service, but Google says that it’s already “perfectly time-matched” more than five million music videos to their audio-only tracks, so you can switch at any time during the song without interruption.

If the track you’re listening to has an accompanying music video that’s been time-matched, you’ll see a video button pop up at the top of the screen. Tapping that button with switch you to the music video, with another tap sending you back to the audio track.

YouTube also says that it feature is a good way to avoid sitting through all of the additional stuff that sometimes comes along with music videos, such as long introductions. If you’re not interested in watching music videos at all, you can go into settings and toggle this functionality by turning “Don’t play music videos” on.

You’ll find this feature in both the iOS and Android apps for YouTube Music, as long as it’s updated to the most latest version. So, make sure you’re all updated and take it for a spin.

There’s little doubt that streaming media is one of the biggest consumers of data on the Internet. And yet, at the same time, it’s also the most common use of data, no matter where in the world you are. Or no matter your phone for that matter.

Spotify created Spotify Lite to cater to those with more constrained budgets, be it for the phones themselves or for their cellular data plans. Like other “lite” apps, its focus is on reducing the amount of data the app takes up on the phone and controlling the amount of cellular data the app uses up.

For one, the app itself is only 10 MB in size which might actually already be a bit big as far as lite apps go. Users can also set limits on how much data the app consumes so you won’t get overcharged when you go beyond your allowed caps. Users can also clean up the app’s cache to free up space without having to dig through Android’s settings.

Naturally, those optimizations may come with trade offs but Spotify doesn’t go into detail on what those are. Instead, it promises the same Spotify experience on the Lite app. Any changes to your account or favorite playlists would also be reflected in the main app as well. Spotify Lite is rolling out in 36 countries with more to come and can be installed on any Android device running version Android 4.3 or later.

With this, Old Mutual also announced their impactful partnership with industry experts and musicians such as Khuli Chana, Letta Mbulu, Thandiswa Mazwai and Brian O Shea, who will get involved in shaping the careers of future musicians through the AMPD Iconsand AMPD Masterclasses platforms.

AMPD Studios have been designed and created specifically to inspire, motivate and mentor the youth and tech-smart market. The venue will consist of two ultra-modern recording studios where the team of experts and musicians will guide and mentor young aspiring artists and help boost their professional careers.

Key to the success of AMPD Studios is the AMPD Icons and AMPD Masterclasses platforms that will be held at the venue throughout the year. AMPD Icons is a conversation platform that will have artists sharing powerful insights and honest conversations about their experiences in the entertainment industry. The series will be broadcast live once a month on Afternoon Express, Metro FM and Old Mutual’s digital platforms. AMPD Masterclasses will see experts unearth their skills to inspire and motivate the up-and-coming musicians and teach them about what it takes to make it in the music industry.

ULTRA South Africa, Africa’s largest electronic music festival, have recently announced some big news, for the first time in South Africa – The Chainsmokers will perform their full LIVE show on the Ultra SA main stages in March 2019.

The Chainsmokers are the only Electronic/Dance Artist with more than a billion plays on Spotify per song with their massive hits “Closer (ft. Halsey)” and “Don’t Let Me Down (ft. Daya)”.

Their debut album “Memories…Do Not Open” remains the Third-Longest-Running No. 1 on The Billboard Dance Chart, and their list of awards goes on for miles including this year’s Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Artist; Top Dance/Electronic Song & Top Dance/Electronic Album as well as a Grammy for last year’s Best Dance Recording.

“Bringing The Chainsmokers LIVE here is massive news for Ultra SA,” said Shaun Duvet, Showtime Management (Pty) Ltd, official Licensee of Ultra Worldwide..  “We have always prided ourselves on bringing only the biggest names in dance music, but the Chains have been on our wish-list for a while and we’re unbelievably excited to show local fans how incredible this duo truly is.”

The Chainsmokers not only have over a billion Spotify plays and numerous other accolades, but put on a live show that is incomparable. More International acts are set to be announced in due time but what a massive way to officially kick things off!

According to Rdio, those interstitials will consist of “new feature announcements, messages from partner brands, notifications about exclusive content and other helpful tips.” Of course, if commercials aren’t your thing, you can still cough up R60 a month to get rid of them courtesy of Rdio’s Unlimited service which includes web and mobile streaming. Combined with free mobile stations and lots more supported countries including South Africa, Rdio and Shazam are certainly helping to make the streaming music space a whole lot more competitive.